Electric Forest: 6 Must-See Outliers

Below the large, fancy fonts and logos of Electric Forest’s headliners lays a sea of standard-font, small lettered artists. It’s a daunting task to sort through all of those names in an effort to narrow down to a concise list. No worries, though, ElectroJams has your back.

I intended to create a list of Top 5 to match the number on the Headliners Must-See post, but I simply couldn’t pare the list down to five. So I’m giving you six.

1. Kygo

Kygo is a member of a burgeoning, group of deep house artists out of Scandinavia, and should serve as perfect background (or foreground, for that matter) music for hammock-sitting near the Forest Stage on Sunday. He should serve as a suitable replacement for those of us who were looking forward to seeing Thomas Jack. He doesn’t have a lot of original material, but he does have a sort of golden touch when it comes to remixes, which explains why Chris Martin tapped the 22 year old Norwegian producer to remix a recent Coldplay release. My personal favorite has to be his remix of James Blake’s “Limit to your Love.” Also, he does smooth justice to “Jolene” by Dolly Pardon.

Read more about Kygo here and listen to his guest set from Diplo and Friends below.

2. Cherub

If you’re planning to go to Cherub, be sure to wear your party pants. Or if you’re already planning on packing your party pants and can’t figure out where you should wear them, go to Cherub. They’re loud, they’re raucous and they will get you off your feet. They’ve had quite a few people join them on stage in the past, and with the incredible supporting cast of the rest of the line-up, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a saxophone, a bass or an extra laptop on stage before they’re done.

Check their 2013 EP, ‘Year of the Caprese’ below. In particular, give “Doses and Mimosas” a listen. Or twenty.

3. Anna Lunoe

Lunoe is another in a long line of young talent out of Australia, and also of the tiny contingent of female artists on the bill. Stylistically, she’s all over the place, but not in a messy, disorganized way. She deftly moves through and combines genres like house, drum n bass, electro, hip hop and even provides her own vocals for her tracks. Her playlists work more like a story, or a journey than a mish-mash of songs put together because they’re popular. I think she’s going to surprise a lot of people, and you don’t want to be one of those people hearing about her amazing set that you missed all weekend.

Sample one of her eclectic sets from her guest appearance on Diplo and Friends:

4. Zoogma

Zoogma’s music makes for a perfect fit for Electric Forest, which explains why they’re returned every year. They’re part live instrumentation, part electronic programming, making up the sonic DNA of the new breed of Livetronica acts. I’ve been to all three previous festivals, and they keep getting better with each year. 2014 looks to be a year that they incorporate more synths and stronger dance beats into the mix. I’ve also been really digging the mash-up they released, “Hotel Crunkafornia,” mixing Biggie, The Eagles and Zoogma into an uncharacteristic, but welcome poppy mix.

Plus, if you stick around after the show, you can meet the band and collect one of their coveted, “What the fuck is a Zoogma?” stickers.

5. Dusky

Dusky was a late addition to this list, and I’m happy that they weren’t ultimately overlooked. Originally signed to Above & Beyond’s deep house label, Anunjadeep, they’ve shifted from the deep house to just straight house, and I couldn’t be happier to have another upbeat house show on my schedule.

They’ll make a great fit for Thursday at the Tripolee stage. Take a listen to the mix they put together for BBC 1Xtra below.

6. Chrome Sparks

In the studio, Chrome Sparks is composed of a single person, Jeremy Malvin, who creates beautiful sonic landscapes, perfect for the magic and lights of the Forest. In a live setting, Malvin enlists the help of two additional musicians, though he’s had the help of up to eight more people in past performances. His most latest release is an EP titled “Goddess,” which features two songs naming a Chrome Forest, so Malvin should feel right at home in his surroundings.

The mix below for Triple J is fairly long, so if you’re short on time, or short on patience, give his song ‘Goddess‘ a listen. Serene and calm, not unlike spearmint gum for your ears.